1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an adjustment system that can be used for garments or other articles. More specifically, the adjustment system provides a configuration capable of adjusting a length of a section of a garment.
2. Discussion of the Background
In various articles of clothing, it is advantageous to be able to adjust the dimensions of the article of clothing to fit snugly on the wearer. For example, outdoor sportswear such as raincoats or ski apparel greatly benefit from adjustable cuffs or pant leg openings that provide an adjustable snug fit on the wearer and thereby prevent water or ice from entering the garment and contacting the wearer. In some articles of clothing it is aesthetically beneficial to have the ability to adjust the fit on the wearer, for example, to slim the waist of a coat. Other items such as adjustable baseball caps, belts, wristwatch bands, or other similar items require a device that can allow the wearer to adjust the fit on the wearer in order for the item to remain in position on the wearer.
FIG. 1 depicts a related art device that is designed to allow the wearer to adjust the fit of an article of clothing on the wearer. The device in FIG. 1 is a cuff 110 for a sportswear article. The cuff 110 includes an elastic band 112 that is incorporated in the cuff, and hook and loop type mating fasteners 114 and 116 which are separate from the elastic band. A wearer can adjust the fit of the cuff by connecting the hook and loop type mating fasteners. The elastic band 112 is configured to only be in tension when the fasteners 114 and 116 are connected. One disadvantage of the device depicted in FIG. 1 is that the cuff does not provide any tightness of fit when the hook and loop fasteners 114 and 116 are disconnected. An additional disadvantage is that the device does not have a configuration that tends to automatically form a flap of material when the wearer grasps the fastener 114 and pulls fastener 114 towards fastener 116. Consequently, the wearer must force the material between the fasteners 114 and 116 into the shape of a flap 118 in order to properly join the fasteners in a neat manner.
An object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment system that can be used for garments or other articles. More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment system that includes a configuration capable of quickly and easily adjusting a length of a section of a garment and that overcomes the disadvantages of related art devices discussed above. The adjustment system can provide the ability, for example, to adjust the length of a section of the garment to make the garment have an adjustable fit for a wearer or to prevent water, snow, dirt, or other debris from entering an interior of the garment by allowing the wearer to tighten the fit of the garment. The adjustment system of the present invention advantageously provides an extensible member with at least one elastic part that can be configured to provide permanent tension even when the adjustment system is in an open position in order to ensure that the garment also fits closely to the body of the wearer to prevent debris from entering the interior of the garment.
The adjustment system of the present invention can be incorporated into a number of garments or other articles. For example, the adjustment system is particularly well suited for use in annular portions of garments, such as in a collar portion of a garment, a sleeve portion of a garment, a waist portion of a garment, a torso portion of a garment, a leg portion of a garment, an opening of a footwear article, an opening of a handwear article, an opening of a headwear article, and a band. The adjustment system advantageously provides a configuration capable of adjusting a length of a section of a garment. Therefore, the use of the adjustment system in an annular portion of a garment is particularly advantageous in that it provides the ability, for example, to adjust the length of a section of the garment to make the garment have an adjustable fit for a wearer or to prevent water, snow, dirt, or other debris from entering an interior of the garment by allowing the wearer to tighten the fit of the garment. The adjustment system of the present invention can also be incorporated into garments or articles having other configurations where it is advantageous to adjust a length of a section of the garment or article for any reason.
The adjustment system advantageously includes at least one section of material upon which the adjustment system is incorporated. The section of material includes an attachment portion, a first portion, a second portion, and a middle portion or flap. The flap is positioned between the first portion and the second portion and the attachment portion is positioned generally adjacent to the second portion and the flap. The adjustment system includes an extensible member with at least one elastic part that extends between the first portion and the second portion, and thereby forms the flap by generally biasing the first portion and the second portion towards one another and bulging the middle portion. The adjustment system further includes an adjustment device, such as a hook and loop type fastener, configured to adjustably connect the flap to the attachment section, thereby providing the wearer with the ability to adjust the length of the material by defining the extend to which the flap is pulled toward the attachment section. The adjustment device can be formed using hook and loop type fasteners, magnetic fasteners, snap fasteners, a strap and a buckle, a pair of mating buckles, or a member with repositionable adhesive material and a receiving member.
The adjustment system of the present invention advantageously provides a structure that requires less stitching than other systems. In other systems, elastic is placed on the inside of the garment in order to prevent exposure of the elastic to the elements (rain, etc.), but in order to avoid the skin of the wearer and piles in the garment from being caught in the elastic, the elastic must be closely connected to the garment by many traversals of stitching. These stitchings make the garment non-waterproof, since the such stitchings cannot be waterproofed by additional sealing straps, such as the sealing straps usually fixed by heat on the stitchings on breathable textiles such as GORE-TEX(copyright). These sealing straps cannot be glued on the elastic. The adjustment system of the present invention uses less stitching and much of the stitching is on the textile so they can made easily waterproof by additional sealing straps. By reducing the amount of stitching used in the adjustment system, the adjustment system of the present invention is less expensive than other systems since the sealing straps needed to waterproof such stitching is very expensive and difficult to fix on the garment.